Read More

He said cuts in funding to the police had contributed to the violence.

"There is a simple, blunt reality: more people will die who might otherwise have lived if we do not reverse this deeply damaging policy of the biggest cuts to any police service in western Europe."

MP Jack Dromey (Image: Birmingham Mail)

Official figures show the number of violent crimes recorded by West Midlands Police rose from 42,280 in the 12 months up to December 2010, to 52,176 in the 12 months up to December 2017.

At the same time, the number of police officers fell from 8,626 to 6,758.

The number of crimes involving a knife or sharp instrument has risen by more then 1,000 a year in the area covered by West Midlands Police, comparing the year to September 2014 with the year to September 2017.

Read More

The area covered by West Midlands Police, which includes Birmingham, Solihull, Coventry and the Black Country.

The Home Office 'Serious Violence Strategy' shows that the West Midlands has the bigest increase in knife crime outside of London

Home Officer Minister Victoria Atkins told the Commons that the Government had published a strategy for cutting violent crime, which included £40 million to be invested to support initiatives to tackle the problem.

She said: "This will focus on early intervention and prevention and on the root causes of the violence. It will look to help young people before they go down the wrong path, encouraging them to make positive choices and to live productive lives away from violence.